Ready, Aim, Fire
by Artama
Summary: When Warrick's Canadian wizkid cousin gets a job at the Las Vegas crime lab as a lab tech, he promised her parents and himself to protect her from Las Vegas. But who can save her from the one thing she wants more than almost anything? [GregOC]
1. Going Under

**Ready, Aim, Fire**

**When Warrick's Canadian wiz-kid cousin gets a job at the Las Vegas crime lab as a lab tech, he promised her parents- and himself- to protect her from the dangers of Las Vegas. But who can save her from the one thing she wants more than almost anything?**

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own CSI, unfortunately, as much as I wish I did. I am in no way being rewarded by the creation of this story, other than in reviews, which boost only my self esteem._

**Author's Note: This is just a random idea I started to write down; quite honestly, I have no idea how much of this is accurate(as to # of years in university, how jobs are filled or whatever), as most of it was just included to work with the story. In other words, I'm going by the show and random things I've read, though I'll try to stay away from writing about the lab as much as I can. If you have any corrections for me, I'd be happy to take them. **

**Chapter One**

Warrick sighed and leaned against the doorframe of the locker room, almost too tired to go any farther. Today had been a tiring day: a robbery on a small grocery store, quickly solved when the perp, a first-timer of about seventeen and a clerk at the store, had come forward, and the start of a rape case investigation. Also today- in about twenty minutes, mind- Warrick was due to pick up his cousin, Lianne(or Lia, as she preferred to be called), at the airport. He grinned as he thought of Lia, finally mustering the energy to walk into the locker room and over to his locker. As he reached it, his cell phone rang. He sighed, figuring it was either Sara, with news on the rape case, or Greg, with news on the rape case.

"Warrick," he said, and was surprised to hear neither Sara nor Greg on the other end.

"Hey Warrick, it's Lia."

Warrick raised an eyebrow at her, before remembering she couldn't see him. 'Man, I am tired...gotta sleep tonight, Brown,' he told himself.

"They got phones on planes now, or are you early?" he asked of his cousin.

"Neither, smarty, you're late, by about ten minutes at the moment. Mum said to call you right when I got here, she doesn't seem to trust your sense of time for some odd reason," she replied with a hint of laughter in her voice.

"Yea, sorry, it's just been a long day...I'll be there in a few, alright, then we can go sleep."

"Warrick, it's ten in the morning-"

"Yea, and I got the graveyard shift, and you will too. Anyway, the sooner I go, sooner I'll be there, so I'll see ya soon, Lia."

"See ya," she answered, then hung up. He couldn't help but smile. Lia was a remarkable kid. She had been born in England and lived there til she was ten, and she still had a British accent, though not as pronounced as it had been on her arrival. Her parents, to the surprise of Warrick's, had opted to settle in Montréal, and Lia and Warrick had had to keep in touch through letters and, later, e-mail. She'd always been obsessed with science, and to be honest he was partially to blame for that. When he was in junior high and she was in grade school, they'd write letters to eachother almost every night, his filled with science trivia and random information and hers filled with thanks and some trivia of her own. Now, a year out of university, she had been working at the Montréal crime lab for most of it. Recently, she'd decided to come down to the States for a while and Warrick, knowing that she was a bright kid, had asked her for a copy of her résumé for Grissom to look over. He knew Grissom had been thinking about bringing in some 'new blood', although perhaps that term would be better left to lines of work less apt to work with blood. In any case, he had been right, and Lia had the job. She had been very excited, and Warrick was as well. The team had been told pretty much only that "Warrick's cousin will be joining our team, and I would appreciate if you would make her feel welcome." from Grissom, and Warrick knew that, without even really knowing it, they were all expecting her to look like him: dark skin, dark eyes, and dark hair. He smiled, imagining their respones to her light skin, blue eyes and red hair. Greg, being Greg, would probably need to scrape his jaw off the floor; Nick would do what he normally did to any member of his team's families, be polite and friendly; Catherine would just be her normal self, commanding without really meaning to be and probably would end up as Lia's role model; Sara, well, she'd probably end up another role model, even though she might not let Lia know her well. Sara was that kind of person, much too involved in her work. But maybe having a younger female around to mentor would help her get past that, even a little. Grissom knew what she looked like and sounded like, because he'd talked to her on the phone. Brass knew as well.

Getting up, he grabbed his keys and his coat and went out to his car.

She was pacing out in front of the main door. He grinned, noticing that she had, unlike many girls he knew, managed to pack only one suitcase, and a small one at that. He pulled up to the curb and rolled down the passenger window.

"Going my way, miss?" he called to her. He laughed as she whirled around, then she joined in when she noticed it was him.

"Of course, kind sir," she joked back, opening the back door to drop her suitcase in before moving up to the front seat. "Right, business first, am I actually working graveyard with you or what?" She got a nod in reply as Warrick was concentrating on the traffic. "Any dress codes or whatever?"

"Nope, just dress to impress, and I know you can do that," Warrick answered.

"Right then, now for the girly stuff- any hot guys on the team?" Warrick just gave her a weird look and she burst out laughing. "Come on it's not THAT hard a question!"

"I do not look at any of my colleagues as 'hot', thank you very much. Sara or Catherine, attractive, yes, but way out of my reach. The guys, NO way...but my guess is there'll be one guy VERY interested in you..."

"Ooh, the plot thickens...stats?" Warrick rolled his eyes in mock frustration. Maybe turning her into a geek in high school wasn't his smartest move, he thought somewhat belatedly, she's reverting to a teenager...

"Greg Sanders, he be the other lab rat... he's probably got a fan club somewhere, he's that type...but he'll probably need to be scraping his jaw off the floor when he sees you, he has a thing for almost any unattached female he sees."

"And he'll figure I'm unattached- how?" Warrick shrugged.

"You've just moved here. He'll figure you didn't bring your boy along. Or he'll believe that his charms will be too irrisistible for you, or something." Lia grinned.

"He sounds okay. Stuck up maybe, but that might be just your view of him. Anything he's into, besides being a lab rat?"

"Rock music and girls. Apparantly he's got a three track mind."

"Rock music, woohoo, he's got taste...I'll have to raid his music collection...or add to it, as the case may be." She laughed. Warrick just raised an eyebrow at her and commented,

"Grissom doesn't like it too much, by the way."

"Meh. Good for Grissom. Hasn't he heard that any form of complex music enhances brain waves to help people think better? Or something?"

"Y'know, Lia, you had me convinced you knew what you were talking about til you said 'or something'. I'd say work on that speech before feeding it to Grissom. Now, you wanna stop and eat out on your first night here, or are your culinary skills significantly better than the last time you tested them on me?" Lia burst out laughing. When she recovered, she managed to say,

"Significantly. I remember to turn the oven on now." The two cousins were still laughing as Warrick turned into the parking lot of a local pizza joint and they went in.

"So, Nick, you hear anything about this cousin of Warrick's?" asked Greg.

"Like what, Greg?" Nick, for once, honestly wished Greg would go away. He'd been pestering almost everyone for the past half hour.

"Is she hot? How old is she? I'm willing to hear pretty much anything besides 'I don't know'."

"Sorry to disappoint you, buddy, but zip is about all anyone except Grissom and Warrick know. Why don't you ask Griss?" The question, though said to seem innocent, was really meant to make Greg shut up. They both knew he wouldn't ask Grissom.

"Well, you know, the lab calls..." Greg said hastily, getting up and leaving the break room. Sara shook her head in wonder.

"Why didn't I think of that?" she asked, a hint of incredulity in her voice.

"Cause I'm smarter than you," teased Nick.

"Break it up, you two, we don't need our CSIs fighting like children in here," said Catherine from her spot on the couch, behind a newspaper.

"Yes, mother," said Nick and Sara in perfect unison. Suddenly, Nick's cell went off. He checked the caller ID, as he always did now.

"It's Warrick," he informed the two women before answering. "Hey Warrick, where're you?"

"Yo, ESP dude, figure it out yourself."

"Aww, come on man, you know I have caller ID now."

"Yeah, just teasin' ya. Anyway me 'n Lia are just heading in from home, should be there in about twenty minutes. Greg gotten on everybody's nerves yet?"

"Warrick, next time one of US goes and picks her up, so YOU can deal with Greg. He didn't stop bugging me, Sara or Catherine til I told him 'we don't know anything, go ask Griss', and then he left, with 'the lab calls' as his excuse. And, Sara's sulking because I thought of it and she didn't-"

"I am NOT sulking!" Warrick heard Sara's voice through the line and chuckled.

"Well, we're on our way...I'll see how far I can stretch the speed limit. See you soon."

"Yup."

"Hey, everyone." Nick, Sara and Catherine looked up to see Warrick followed by a girl who looked about as different from him as possible. He grinned at the looks on their faces, then turned to Grissom who smiled back at him and Lia.

"Hey, Warrick. Hey Lia, and welcome to the Las Vegas crime lab. Hope you have an interesting time."

"Hi Mr. Grissom."

"I told you before, no real need to call me that. It's just Grissom. Anyway, that's Sara Sidle," he said as the woman with brown hair waved at her, "Nick Stokes," to the guy, who nodded in her direction, "and Catherine Willows." The second woman, this one a blonde, gave her a smile. "Greg you'll meet in a few minutes. Everything alright so far?"

"Yes, I know everyone's names, I can find my way in, I think I'll be fine for now."

"Alright then. Warrick, could you take her to the lab? Tell Greg to show her the ropes, and then you can come get your assignment."

"Yes, sir." said Warrick, and nodded to everyone before leaving again with Lia.

As Warrick pushed the door to the lab open, he and Lia were hit with a wave of The Used's 'All That I've Got'. Greg was sitting in front of a microscope, peering at the contents of the slide while air drumming like mad. Lia had started softly singing along to it as Warrick moved towards the stereo and pressed pause. Greg stopped in mid-hit as if he, too, were paused.

"I was listening to that!" he said indignantly, turning to face Warrick and at the same time noticing Lia. Now that he was facing her, Lia saw that, no matter what Warrick's opinion of guys was, Greg wasn't bad looking at all. Light brown hair somewhat spiked up, brown eyes, and a charming smile to rival that of her best guy friend in high school, who'd been known to be a ladie's man. Now, though, Greg was staring at her. "Who are you?" he blurted out.

"New lab tech, Warrick's cousin, Lianne Fox, but call me Lia."

"Warrick's- how are you related to _Warrick_?"

"Quite simple really. Warrick's mum's sister got married to m'dad, and then I was born."

"And you don't look like him why?"

"Dad's English, male gene domination, and mum wasn't all that dark anyway. Geez, boy, do you know how racist you sound?" Greg raised his hands in a defensive gesture.

"It's not my fault. When Griss said 'Warrick's cousin' I'm sure we all thought you'd look alike!"

"Grissom didn't seem too fazed."

"He doesn't seem fazed at _anything_-"

"And he's seen your picture, kiddo, remember that one of you I keep in my wallet?" Warrick said, cutting Greg off.

"You showed him _that_? Oh God, that's a horrible picture, Warrick, you could've at least gotten a different one."

"Yeah, well, I didn't, you'll live...anyway, I gotta go, I'll find ya after shift and take you home." With that, Warrick waved and left the lab. Greg shifted nervously.

"Sorry about that. I really didn't mean to come off looking like a jerk, I was just kinda surprised-"

"Yeah, yeah," she waved it off, "most people are surprised when they find out we're related. There was this one time when I was in junior high and he was visiting, and I was showing him my science project at the school science fair, and this one girl who normally avoided me like the plague came up and started acting all friendly, and then all of a sudden she was like, "So, Lianne, who's your hot boyfriend?" and me and Warrick just burst out laughing _so_ hard...I think we scared her a little..." Greg smiled at her and she smiled back. "So, anyway, I've been meaning to ask you, Warrick said you're into rock music. True or false?" Greg shrugged.

"True, but I can turn it off if it bothers you."

"Turn it off? I was singing along to that when Warrick turned it off." Greg looked surprised.

"Wow, someone who knows the Used? You know how rare that is around here?"

"I can guess. Have you tried telling Grissom that any kind of complex music helps the brain function better? Warrick said he doesn't like it much."

"_That_ is the understatement of the universe. I'd say he hated it, only he probably wouldn't waste that much time on it." Lia shrugged.

"My mum's the same way. She hates my music, but she's learned to live with it. Or at least, put up with it while I'm staying at home," Lia said with a grin forming on her face.

"Yeah, great about parents, huh? Always looking over stuff for their kids." He winked at her, pressed play, then said, over the music, "Let's get you started then." She nodded in reply and not half an hour later, anyone looking into the lab would see the two of them working, Greg sometimes showing her where things were, both of them singing along to the music.

**A/N: Well, first chapter out of the way. I don't know if people will like it or hate it(though I'm hoping on the like side!) but if you read it, please R&R and tell me what you think. This chapter was actually going to be longer but I figured I should break it up to see how people liked it first.**


	2. Sleeping With The Light On

_Disclaimer: I do not, unfortunately, own any aspect of CSI. I don't even have the episodes on DVD yet. Though I may own those within the next four months, along with the books. -grin- No profit is being made through this story. _And now, on to the story:

**Chapter Two**

Over the next two weeks, Greg and Lia became almost inseperable at the lab. Any time they were together and not working, there was some chat going on about music or movies or something of the sort. Most of the team had at one point or another come in while the two were in the middle of a conversation, which they promptly stopped mid-sentence, and the moment the intruder left, whoever had been speaking would continue while looking over the information, exactly where they'd left off. Neither of them ever seemed to get tired; it was almost like they were feeding off eachother's energy.

One night after a long, tiring shift, however, Warrick came into the lab to find Greg asleep in his chair, with Lia sitting next to him leaning her head on his shoulder. Seeing Warrick, she yawned and said,

"I dunno if we should let him drive home, 'Rick, he'd probably crash or something." Warrick looked at Greg, who resembled a kid when he was asleep, and after a half second of deliberation,

"Right, wake him up, he can take the couch or something. I gotta stop at the supermarket on the way home though, we're out of milk and a few other things." Lia stood slowly and stretched her arms above her head, groaning.

"Man, how often are shifts like that?" She shook Greg's shoulder. He waved a hand at her and mumbled something under his breath that sounded like 'buzz off'. "Oh, come on, Greg, you don't want to sleep at the lab, do you?" His eyes finally opened.

"What?" Raising his hands to his eyes, he rubbed them as if trying to get the sleepiness out of his head that way.

"You're too tired to drive, you can crash on the couch at home, Warrick'll bring us to work tonight."

"Right, that sounds good." Greg stood up, yawning, and promptly almost walked into the counter. He turned around with a sheepish smile on his face and commented, "Good thing I won't be driving!" Lia just laughed as they both took off their lab coats, then she took his arm as Warrick lead the way to the car.

Half an hour later, Warrick pulled into the parking lot of his apartment and looked back at Greg and Lia as he switched off the ignition. They had both sat in the back and had been chattering on about some movie for a few minutes before falling asleep again. Lia had her head against Greg's shoulder and he was leaning his head against hers by the time Warrick stopped at the grocery store. He marveled at how quickly they'd bonded. Lia had always been the kind of kid other kids didn't want to be seen with, generally. She was smart beyond her grade level in a neighborhood where if you were different in any way, you were generally cast out. She hadn't seemed to mind much, but the way it turned out, she had only had one real friend by the time she hit high school, Matt, who'd been almost like a brother to her. In university she'd kept in touch with Matt and kept to herself, so people generally saw her as an introvert when really she could be as outgoing as anyone. But being friends with Greg maybe wasn't that much of a surprise. He was practically a Lia in male form, they were so alike. They'd heard of the same weird bands, same wacko movies, were interested in the same things. Warrick just shook his head and opened Lia's door.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty, the chauffeur wants to get to sleep as much as you do." She stirred a little before actually waking up. She seemed surprised to find that she had slept most of the way.

"You should've let me go into the store with you," she said indignantly, "you've probably gotten the wrong kind of milk or something." In spite of their joking on her first night, she had in fact become a good cook, and had taken control of the kitchen quite quickly.

"Give it up, Li, I got exactly the same kind of milk you got last time you took me food shopping. Now wake the other beauty over there and let's go so I can lock up the car." In response to this, she gently punched Greg's arm, mimicking Warrick's earlier comment:

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty." Greg opened his eyes.

"Ha ha. Funny. I prefer 'hot', thanks very much." But he managed to gather his bruised ego enough to get out of the car.

"Actually I fell quite rested," commented Lia. "We slept a grand total of what, twenty minutes? But I think I'd be up to making supper and watching a movie, what d'you guys think?"

"I'm in on supper, but _I _haven't been sleeping so I'm gonna catch a few winks," came Warrick's reply.

"I think I can handle both. What's for eats?" was Greg's response.

"It depends on what Warrick got. If I remember correctly, what we have at home is the makings of a salad, hamburgers, chicken burgers..." Lia continued through a short list as they went up the stairs, finishing as they reached Warrick's door with "...or tuna salad." Greg shook his head in amazement.

"Tell me again why Warrick need to get groceries?"

"Because we were out of milk, orange juice, and brown bread, which I can't live without, and something he said he needed." Warrick unlocked the door.

"Hurry up and fix some food, Li, I'll take Greg to find something better to sleep in." Greg, unnoticed by Warrick or Lia, paled slightly at this. He hadn't talked to Warrick alone since he'd met Lia and he felt that Warrick had a little something to say to him.

"That's quite alright Warrick, I can sleep in this, I keep a change of clothes in my car, I can change when we're back at the lab..." Warrick just shook his head and gestured toward the hall.

"Come on, Lab Rat, I'm sure I have something that'll fit you." The tone in his voice indicated that nothing would stop him, so Greg, resigned to his fate, followed the direction of Warrick's pointing thumb.

(Warrick POV)

'Poor kid, he looks kinda apprehensive. But then again, I probably do seem kind of imposing...being Li's cousin and all...' I mused, watching Greg go down the hall in front of me. When he reached the two doors to mine and Li's rooms he turned back, as if asking me which one. I nodded at mine. No perverted thoughts here folks- I just don't like the thought of him being in the vicinity of my cousin in his boxers, because no matter what he says, he doesn't normally sleep in jeans. I walked over to the dresser next to the door and pulled open the top one, where I seemed to remember stashing a few pairs of pyjama pants. Surely one of them would fit Greg. As I searched, I started the inevitable.

"So, after two weeks of watching you two, I must ask...what do you want from Li?" The question was loaded with possibilities for Greg. To deny, or not to deny, that is the question.

"Er- what exactly do you mean?" I could see it, anyone could see it; but maybe not him or Li, the two people who matter in this. Forgoing my pretend search for the pants, I just pulled them out and tossed them unceremoniously to Greg, then opened the next drawer and grabbed a shirt for him. Whether or not they saw it...

"What do you see in my cousin? I can see it in your eyes, Greg, no use trying to keep it away from me... you want her, don't you?" Blunt and to the point, yes...neccesary, yes.

(Greg POV)

"What do you see in my cousin? I can see it in your eyes, Greg, no use trying to keep it away from me... you want her, don't you?" 'You want her, don't you? You want her, don't you?' The question echoed through my mind, but this time, in Warrick's voice, not my own, as it had been for...well, I don't know. Maybe finding myself twice in one night with her against me was what was doing it now, but...

"Want her as a friend, yeah, what else?" Warrick just fixed his eyes on me. The eyes that make girls swoon- and guys like me want to pass out from fright. No doubt about it, this guy'll murder me, probably no matter what I say. 'Honesty is the best policy, Sanders,' I tell myself.

"Well, okay, she's hot- no, scratch that, gorgeous, she's a brainiac, she's my best friend. What more do you want me to say?" Warrick just sighed and got up.

"Never mind, Greg." he turned back and fixed me with that stare again. "Just one thing- I've only seen her cry once over a guy. If you end up the second, and I find it was your fault, you're gonna be next on Doc Robbins' table." What was that supposed to mean? He turned back towards the door. "You can change in the bathroom, it's the last door down the hall." I guess he went back to the kitchen.

(Li POV)

I looked up from the mixing bowl as Warrick came back in- minus Greg.

"Murder him yet?" I ased jokingly. Warrick just sighed and shook his head.

"Maybe he should tell you, but I think he's into you, Li..." I couldn't help it, I cracked up at that.

"Um, 'Rick, reality check: one, he's my best friend. Two, what idiot would conciously, in his right mind, want to be seen with me as anything more than a friend? Three...come on, he's my best friend for goodness' sake!" Warrick just made a tired, noncommital noise at the back of his throat. I rolled my eyes- I've become very practised in that aspect these past two weeks. I handed him a plate with one of my 'famous' tuna sandwiches on it.

"Eat and go to bed," I told him, "you're just tired. Me and Greg will watch a movie or talk, then we'll go sleep."

"Where's he gonna sleep?"

"He can sleep with me." I notice Warrick's look before he managed to comment. "Oh shut up! In the completely literal sense, he can sleep with me. Or take the couch. But the bed is more comfortable." Honestly, I can't believe Rick sometimes. But in any case... "Get to bed, Warrick," I said as gently as I could. "It's been a long shift, don't worry about me and Greg, we're adults, we'll be fine."

"Adults, yes, mature, got a long way to go there, cousin," was all I could hear as he walked down the hall to his room.

(3rd person POV)

The bathroom door opened once Greg was sure Warrick had gone into his room. The first interrogation- if you could call it that- had been nerve-wracking enough. He took a deep breath and thought, 'Come on Sanders, where's the old charm? She's your friend, you're perfectly comfortable around her, Warrick was just being paranoid.' 'Yes,' said that annoying little voice in the back of his head, 'but all the same, you are nervous, he might not've been paranoid...get out there and show her what you've got, Sanders!' God, he hated that thing...so annoying, yet somehow always managed to be right. He sighed, then walked back to the kitchen, where Lia was. He paused in the doorway, watching her. When Warrick had left, she'd popped a CD- probably her 'favouritest' mix CD, as she put it- into the CD player, and was singing along to the voice of Billie Joe, of Green Day fame, in Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life). _It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right, I hope you had the time of your life... _Greg somehow thought the lyrics fit. Two weeks ago he'd been happy- well, alright, content- with his life of the Lab Rat, he'd accepted that Sara would probably never be into him, and started moving on, and then suddenly, voila, in came Lianne Fox, his amazing Canadian twin. He hadn't missed the break-room chatter by any means. He knew some people thought they'd be 'cute' together, and some people said they were so alike, that their kids would be the next Einsteins. He laughed at the memory of when he'd overheard that particular remark- hilarious moment, priceless, really- and Lia heard it. She spun around with a surprised look on her face, and he noticed a blush slowly creeping up her neck.

"I- I didn't know you were there, you could've told me so I could've stopped singing." Greg quizzically raised an eyebrow at her.

"Why? You have a beautiful voice, and you always sing at the lab." Alright, maybe he hadn't meant the compliment to come out that quickly...he could feel heat rushing to his face and was surprised to see Lia blushing too. They stood in silence for a minute.

"Yeah, well, the lab music is always turned up loud enough to block out pretty much anything, including my horrible voice," she said jokingly, trying to ease up the moment. "Anyway, I hope you like tuna salad, that's what I ended up making, it's fast and easy." She pointed at the plates on the island counter and told him, "Grab a stool. I'm just getting the chips. Or we can eat in the living room if you want, and watch a movie." Greg walked over and sat down

"It's not that loud. That's just the Griss influence." He paused. "What movie?" Lia came over to the island counter with a bowl of nachos and some salsa, and sat down herself.

"Well," she said thoughtfully, trying to remember, "Warrick's got a bunch of weird stuff, some sci-fi, documentaries, that kind of stuff...me, I brought my Harry Potters, Lord of the Rings, a few Monty Pythons, Spiderman, A Series of Unfortunate Events...a few more, but I have a horrible memory."

"I've either seen or heard of most of those, but what's Monty Python?" Greg asked curiously. Lia just stared at him.

"You don't know Monty Python?" She asked incredulously. "They're only the greatest comedy group to walk the face of this earth! We are _so_ watching Monty Python."

And, true to her word, ten minutes later when they'd finished eating and Greg was curled up on one end of the couch, in front of the TV, Lia had found the Monty Python movies Greg could choose from.

"Well, there's And Now For Something Completely Different, that's basically a collection of the best skits from their TV show, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which is pretty funny, not too many sickminded remarks, it has to do with King Arthur, and not for anyone too religious...Monty Python's Life of Brian is about this dude who's always being mixed up with Jesus Christ, it's slightly more perverted but still funny, also not for anyone religious...and then there's Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life, which is very sickminded in most places, but probably the funniest of the bunch, in my opinion, and, once again, definetely not for anyone too religious." Greg shrugged.

"Pick one, just make sure it won't scar me for life," he joked. She made a face at him.

"Fine, I pick The Meaning Of Life, it's my favourite, and it's funny...Warrick didn't like it much, I wasn't too surprised though." She put the movie in and went back to sit on the other side of the couch.

Through most of the movie, she watched Greg's reactions. She already knew most of the movie by heart- having been introduced to Monty Python when she was very young- so she just watched Greg. He didn't seem too appalled at it, laughing at most of it. He acted a lot like Matt had the first time he'd watched it, actually, only he was more into it. Kinda iffy at some points, but other than that... 'Jeez, we could be twins,' she thought to herself with a silent laugh.

Greg was pretty surprised with the movie, personally. It wasn't something his parents would like him watching. Well, to put it mildly. But it was funny. It was sickminded, as Lia had warned, but hey, this was Greg. He generally joked about this kind of stuff all the time. And now, look at that, some new jokes to spring on the team with Lia.

When the movie was over, the two of them just sat in comfortable silence for a moment.

"So, what'd you think?" said Lia finally.

"I think.." he said slowly, "some of those quotes..." she raised an eyebrow at him, "were absolutely hilarious and need to be thrown at our team fast!" he finished, with a wink. "We haven't had any good jokes in a while, it's getting boring...I think 'every sperm is sacred' would do the trick to get Sara pissed!" The two of them burst out laughing. After a few more minutes of laughter and then silence, it was Greg who broke the silence.

"Are we going to sleep now?" Lia shrugged.

"I guess."

"Where am I going to sleep?" Greg asked.

"Well you can sleep in my bed, or you can take the couch...the bed's more comfortable though, I can assure you."

"Where will you sleep if I take your bed?"

"It's a queen size bed, there's enough room for two people." Lia said with another little shrug of her shoulders. Greg made a show of gulping.

"What'll Warric say, though?"

"Warrick has already been informed of the possibility. He also knows we're adults and he knows I trust you." Lia stood and started walking toward her room. "Go on in, I'll be there as soon as I change." She said back to him. He followed her down the hall in time to see the bathroom door close behind her.

Opening her bedroom door, he grinned as he noticed it was exactly like he'd pictured her room would look like. Her desk in one corner, one wall completely covered in bookcases full of books on everything under the sun, her dresser, her bed, and a tank with a snake in it. The walls not covered in bookcases had posters and photos everywhere. You could hardly see the white paint underneath. But everything in the room, you could tell it was hers.

Suddenly, a hand covered his mouth and an arm grabbed him around his waist. He jumped and tried to turn but his attacker pushed him into the room. Suddenly he was let go.

"I told you to go in, not stand gawking in the doorway," said Lia with a hint of laughter in her voice. Greg turned to look at her and suddenly realised that, underneath the layers, she did indeed have a female's body. Right now she was wearing a black tank top and black pyjama pants. She had let her hair down and it fell down her back in subtle waves. Not wanting to look like he was staring,

"CSI instincts: know your surroundings," he said with a grin. She smiled back and walked over to her bed, falling onto it and putting her hands behind her head.

"You're not really tired, are you?" she asked, staring at the ceiling as Greg followed and sat down next to her. He shrugged.

"Not really sleeping-tired. More like resting-tired than anything, I've already slept enough."

"Good, I don't really want to sleep either..." They lay there in companiable silence for a few moments before Greg's voice broke the silence again.

"Let's play Truth or Dare." Lia turned her head to look at him.

"Any particular reason why?" Greg shrugged.

"Something to do. Only I suggest no dares, Warrick might get pissed." Lia chuckled at this.

"Yea, probably. You go first, I can't think of any questions yet."

"Yeah,and I have to think of something I haven't already asked you," Greg shot back. "Hmm...what are you most scared of?" Lia thought for a moment.

"Death, I guess. And bees, I hate bees." She shuddered. Greg laughed.

"The invincible Lianne Fox, scared of bees? Wow."

"Childhood thing. I stepped on a hornet's nest once, by accident, and I've been absolutely petrified of anything that stings ever since. I seriously like, run the other way."

"Ah. Anyway, your turn."

"Yeah, and I have to think of something I haven't already asked you," mimicked Lia. "What are you most scared of? I won't take all your questions, I promise." This time Greg had to think.

"I've never actually thought about that."

"Oh come on, you've gotta have an answer somewhere."

"Well, death...I mean it's one thing pretty much everyone is scared of, isn't it?"

"'To the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure,'" quoted Lia. "Professor Dumbledore, I forget which book." Greg rolled his eyes at her, at which she promptly hit him in the stomach lightly.

"I saw that."

"What, so you can do it, but nobody else can?"

"Precisely. And it's your turn to ask."

"What's the first dream you remember?" Looking over, Greg saw that Lia had her eyes closed tightly, thinking.

"It was my first nightmare," she said slowly. "I was pretty small...three maybe...we had this dog, Maggie...and our house was pretty big, with this big weird staircase, my room was the first after it...and in the dream, the house was on fire, and I couldn't get out...and I was standing in my doorway, looking out at the flames, I could hear my parents yelling...and then I saw Maggie coming up the stairs, and she was on fire, and she was screaming like a human...and I saw her burn away, I couldn't save her, and she was my favourite thing in the world." Lia's voice broke and she sat up, leaning her face against her knees. Greg sat up too and put his arms around her. She leaned into him. "I'm sorry...it's stupid, I'm still getting worked up about it, and it's just a dream," she said quietly, barely audibly.

"It's alright, it's not stupid...Maggie was something you cared about, nothing you care about is stupid. And it was only a dream, you were just little...something like that would scare me even now." Greg reassured her, rubbing her back. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked..." Lia lifted her face and smiled at him.

"You didn't know, it's not your fault, don't apologise." She pulled away and for a split second Greg thought it was because of him...but no: she got up and walked over to her desk, grabbed a book, and came back to sit next to him. He tentatively put his arm back around her and she didn't pull away. She opened the book- which he now saw to be a photo album- and flipped through a few pages, stopping at a picture of a house.

"This was my family's house in England. It's where we lived until I was ten, and then my mother decided that she wanted to be closer to her sister...but apparantly not too close, since we ended up in Canada." Lia said with a smile. She pointed to a picture window on the front. "That was my room." She turned the page, to a picture of two adults, two children, a dog, and two cats. "That's my family. Mum, Dad, me, I'm the older one, and Victoria, Vicky, she's my little sister. The dog, obviously, that's Maggie...the cat I'm holding is Legolas, I was a big fan of the Lord of the Rings books, even at that point. Legolas was always my favourite. Vicky's cat was named Leia, Vic took after Dad and liked Star Wars more than books." Lia sat in silence, looking at the picture, and Greg just watched her. A tear slipped out of her eye and she brushed it away.

"You miss them." Greg stated quietly. Lia just nodded and put her face in her hands again, and Greg pulled her onto his lap, holding her close.

"I haven't cried this much for years," she mumbled against his chest.

"It's because you're strong. But it's fine to let emotions go...you miss them, you wouldn't be human if you didn't, you're in a new place and homesickness is a normal part of that."

"Yeah...it's still kind of a strange way for your first time here to be..."

"For a first time anywhere, this was great. I got to spend time with my best friend, I didn't run the risk of crashing my car, I was introduced to Monty Python, I get to annoy Grissom even more tomorrow." As expected, that comment brought a giggle from Lia and she sat up a little, looking at him.

"As long as I get to join in."

"Deal. And now I think we really should sleep. It'll probably be a long shift tomorrow."

"Oh, yay, we can watch Life of Brian tomorrow then." She yawned in spite of herself. "Actually that does sound like a good idea."

Greg let go of Lia and lay back, and was surprised when she lay down right next to him. He mentally shrugged; he wasn't complaining.

Later, when Warrick woke up and went to check on Lia, the scene he saw was one he hadn't quite expected: Lia and Greg asleep with their arms around eachother and a blanket over them and a photo album on the foot of the bed. Maybe he'd been wrong about Sanders.

**A/N: Ok, second chapter! This one is quite a bit longer, as you can tell. I've decided to post this right away, instead of waiting for reviews- although maybe I already have one or two- simply because I'm a)impatient and b)might forget otherwise. So, hope you enjoyed, R&R and tell me what you think!**


	3. Middle Of Nowhere

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, nada, zip, zilch, other than my rather random idea that is currently coming from a late-night sugar fest! And now, on to the third chapter!_

**Chapter Three**

"Right, me and Nick are heading over to Charlie's to watch the game," Warrick told Lia. "so you get my keys, drive yourself and Sanders to work when the shift starts, I'll see you there." Glancing at Lia's bedroom door, as if to see if Greg was still there, Warrick continued, "If you want to bring him swimming, he can borrow something of mine- again- but if you guys feel like having a sleepover again, I must insist that he gets his own stuff first." Lia laughed.

"I'll tell him to start keeping something in his car. Now get going, I'm sure Nick is waiting." Warrick shrugged and headed to the door, and waved as he left. Lia laughed as she turned to the kitchen to grab some cereal. As she was sitting down, Greg came in, running a hand through his hair. Lia laughed.

"Well, now I know how you get those spikes," she told him. He smiled back.

"Only without my special gel they come down. This is merely a quick fix." He yawned and gestured to Lia's cereal. "How can you eat that? It's like, six in the evening."

"I've never become accustomed to eating supper food right after waking up. So I just eat cereal. Want some or are you ok with something else?"

"Can I just have a glass of juice or something? I don't normally eat this close to waking up." Lia got up and opened the fridge.

"Orange okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Greg said with another yawn as he sat down opposite Lia's chair. She took a glass and poured him some juice, and slid it over to him as she sat back down.

"You're still tired?"

"Not really, I just take a while to completely wake up. I normally swim right when I get up, which is part of why I don't like to eat right away."

"You want to go for a swim now?"

"Nothing to swim in. And apartments don't take well to skinny dipping," Greg said with a grin. "Not that I know from experience, of course..." Lia laughed.

"Right. Well, Warrick did mention you could borrow something of his- again, as he said- and he also said that you better pack a suitcase next time you sleep over."

"Great, I'll remember that. But you just ate, it's not safe to swim-"

"When you've just eaten, yeah, I know, but I only ate a little, we can wait like ten minutes while we get ready, and walk up. Happy?" Greg shrugged.

"Yep. Just be careful."

--------

Half an hour later, the two of them were in the water. They were the only ones in the pool, and the only ones in the pool room, for that matter. At the moment they were playing a rather involved game of water volleyball, a spur-of-the-moment idea from Greg, who had noticed the ball floating in one of the corners. After about five minutes of playing, they were tied 9-9. They had decided that the winning score would be ten. Finally, Greg spiked the ball at Lia, who fell over trying to hit it and went underwater. Coming up and shaking her head like a dog to get the water out of her eyes, she threw the ball back to Greg.

"Looks like you won, Greg," she laughed as she caught her breath.

"Yup. Who's the greatest?" he teased, holding the ball up like a trophy. Lia stuck her tongue out.

"Good question. I'd say that would be a tie between...oh...Warrick and Matt."

"Oh, you're gonna get it for that!" Greg exclaimed, dropping the ball and swimming toward Lia. She laughed and tried to swim away from him, but he managed to grab her leg and pull her back. Pinning her against the side of the pool, he started tickling her.

"Greg! Quit it!" she gasped out between fits of giggling. He paused for a moment.

"Say I'm the greatest."

"Nah.." she said, then doubled over again from laughing as Greg renewed his efforts. He was laughing along with her.

"C'mon, say it, you know it's true, and I won't stop until you do!" Greg teased her.

"Greg...can't breathe..." Lia forced out. Greg stopped again with a concerned look in his eyes, which disappeared as soon as Lia pounced on him, returning the tickle treatment. They both went under the water for a second and came back up, laughing. Lia leaned back on the wall and closed her eyes for a minute, catching her breath. When she looked up, Greg was just looking at her, standing maybe half a foot away from her, leaning one arm on the side of the pool. Any other guy just staring at her would've made her uncomfortable, but he didn't.

"What?" she asked finally. Greg blinked, then answered,

"Nothing." He grinned. "Nice move though. I actually believed you for a minute." Lia grinned back.

"I was exagerating. But only a little. When I laugh a lot I have trouble breathing sometimes. It did give me a good opportunity though." She glanced up at the clock.

"It's almost seven thirty," she announced. "I'm still hungry, and I'm sure you are by now. Let's go get some food, then go for a walk or something?"

"Sure," Greg replied, "If you feel like going for a drive, though, let's stop by my place for a bit, so I can get some of my own clothes."

"Sounds like a plan."

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**A/N: I have my first reviews!**

**CatherineLouise: Glad you liked, and sorry about the cliffhanger- it wasn't supposed to be that way, my computer sometimes doesn't fully upload the file. It's fixed though!**

**HyperSquishy: Thank you! I always pictures Warrick as the kind of person to really want to protect his family so- there he is. Glad you liked, enjoy this chapter!**

**Sorry this chapter has taken so long, and so short, I've been away and pretty busy, not to mention the writer's block I always seem to get --sigh-- Anyway I'm going on the assumption the the graveyard shift is from like midnight to eight in the morning. That's how the timing in this story is going to go. **

**I'll try to update again some time this week!**


	4. Falling For You

**A/N: Wow, fourth chapter already. Enjoy!**

**Thank you to my reviewers!**

**Rini-Jaganshi: Here's more:D**

**CatherineLouise: Hopping. Haha I was on a bit of a roll today so...this one's up sooner, as opposed to later ;).**

_Disclaimer: I do not own CSI. Duh. If I did I wouldn't be writing fanfics...I think._

**Chapter Four**

The next few days were as hectic as the sleep-over day had been, but Greg didn't stay over again the rest of the week. Finally, on Saturday, things slowed down enough that there was nothing to be done in the lab. Greg and Lia were playing cards at around six in the morning when Nick walked in.

"Hey," he called from the doorway, "you two up to coming out with me, Sara, Warrick and Cath before next shift? Cath was telling us about this club she knows."

"Was it the one she worked in?" Greg asked excitedly. Lia punched him lightly in the arm.

"That's sick, Greg..."

"Yeah, so?"

"It's not that one, it's just a normal club where you dance." Nick interrupted. Greg pouted exaggeratedly while Lia coughed to hide a laugh.

"What time?" Asked Greg.

"Probably around 9, we'll meet. I'll give you the address, Greg, since Lia can just go with Warrick." He crossed the room and started writing directions for Greg.

"Hey Nick, how did you manage to get Sara to go to a _club_, of all places?" asked Lia. "Isn't she like, a workaholic or something?"

"Well, she can be normal sometimes," Nick said with a laugh. "And let's just say it took some persuasion- a.k.a. threats of dismemberment- to get her to come." Nick smiled, waved, and left amid waves of laughter from the two behind him.

--------

That night Lia was standing in front of her closet, trying to figure out what to wear. She'd never been to an actual club in her life- let alone one in Las Vegas. Exasperated, she called to Warrick.

"Hey, 'Rick! What the hell do you wear to a club in Las Vegas?" She heard Warrick laugh and start walking towards her room.

"Wear something girly, something sexy. Get Sanders over here, he'll give you a good idea," Warrick told her from the doorway. "Or maybe call Cath or Sara, they'd probably more help than Sanders."

"Right. Cause, you know, I'm on such good terms with Sara or Catherine that I can just call them up for something stupid like this."

"Right. So call Sanders, if you're really that desperate. Just grab a pair of jeans and a shirt you're comfortable in, this club isn't some big sexed up affair, just a dance club. You don't need to dress like a slut to be let in." He turned back to the kitchen.

"Great. Right helpful you were." Lia sighed, then looked through her clothes again. "Jeans and a t-shirt it is," she mused, reaching for her favourite jeans and opening her shirt drawer.

Eventually she decided to wear a dark green halter top, which she liked and was comfortable in, even though her mother hated it. Although, the hate her mother had for it had something to do with the fact that it was a little low in front, and exposed part of her back. Finally dressed, she slid on a pair of black sneakers and grabbed her brush as she headed for the kitchen. Warrick did a double take.

"I did _not_ know you could look like a girl, Li!" he exclaimed teasingly. She stuck out her tongue in reply, took a glass from the cupboard and poured herself some orange juice. "Real mature. The tongue thing, anyway."

"Yeah, don't I know it," she replied, taking a long drink from the juice. "I'll be right back."

Five minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom with her hair tied back, as she called it, 'Galadriel style', with the only difference being her hair was red. She was twirling as she came back in and when she sat down, Warrick had a frown on his face.

"Turn around for a sec, Li," he told her. She complied. He saw immediatly what he had thought he saw- a tattoo on her shoulder. "When did you get a tattoo?" Lia turned back around and shrugged.

"Last year. Don't get all accusatory on me, Rick, it's just a little one. And yes, Mum knows I have it."

"Anything else you've done to yourself I need to know about?"

"Two years ago, me and Jess got our belly buttons pierced. But you knew about that, I know I told you because you made a huge fuss about it."

"You're like the little sister I never had, Li, of course I'm going to be protective of you."

"Yeah, protective is okay, but paranoid is just paranoid. There's nothing wrong with having a tattoo, Warrick."

"It looks Chinese. What does it mean?" Warrick changed the subject abruptly, knowing this was going nowhere.

"It's actually four seperate symbols together. There's friendship, love, courage, and knowledge."

"Well, at least it's not some mindless thing. Anyway, it's eight thirty, we better get going."

--------

A few minutes past nine, they both got into the club and noticed Nick and Catherine already there. Sara came in a few minutes after they had, and Greg appeared a few minutes after her.

"Hey guys!" he called over the noise of the club as he approached the table. The three girls were already out on the dance floor, Catherine having persuaded Sara and Lia to join her. Greg slid into a seat opposite Nick and Warrick. "Girls are already getting their moves on, huh?" He asked.

"Yeah," replied Nick, "Catherine managed to get Sara out there. I was surprised that she had to try to get Lia out there, I mean, she seems like the kind of person who loves dancing, yet she's so shy."

"That's the thing man, she's good at stuff but she never sees it," Warrick put in. "She's always been that way. When people compliment her, she'll brush it off. She tends to put herself down."

"She is a great dancer, though," said Greg, whose eyes hadn't left Lia since he'd sat down. Nick gave Warrick a nudge in the ribs and nodded in Greg's direction with a wink.

The song changed and the three girls headed back to the table. After a moment, Lia and Sara left again to get drinks for the group. They had all promised not to have any alchohol, so soft drinks it was. Greg watched Lia as she leaned against the counter, chatting with Sara. Suddenly he was brought back to the table by Catherine saying,

"Earth to Greggo. Wake up." He turned and smiled at Catherine.

"I am awake, thanks," he replied.

"Right. I'm so sure you know what I just said."

"Sure I do."

"Then tell me."

"You said, 'Earth to Greggo. Wake up.'" Greg said smugly as Nick grinned.

"He has a point, Cath, that is what you last said." Catherine scowled.

"Whatever. Anyway, Greg, I thought you knew Sara was with Nick now?" Greg raised an eyebrow at her.

"Of course I know that. I was the last to know, of course, but I do know."

"Then why were you staring at her?"

"Wasn't."

"So you were staring at Lia."

"Who's staring at me?" Lia asked as she and Sara came back holding two cans of root beer, three of Coke, and a Sprite, and passed them around.

"Nobody." Catherine replied, to which Lia rolled her eyes. "Is that your trademark or something?" Cath inquired.

"Or something. It's just what I do when I have nothing better to say," Lia replied with a grin.

The song changed again, and this time Catherine didn't have to urge Sara and Lia to come with her, but they all forced the guys to come with them. True to what Catherine had said to Greg, Sara pulled Nick with her and danced with him, but to Lia and Greg's surprise, Catherine and Warrick also paired up. Lia turned to Greg with a shocked look on her face.

"That...was unexpected."

"To say the least," agreed Greg.

"So I guess I'm stuck with you," she teased him.

"I guess. Watch out though, I know you're ticklish," he teased back, tentatively putting an arm around her waist.

"Ooh, you wouldn't dare. We're in public. I'll scream," she replied, turning so they were facing eachother. She was watching Sara and Nick out of the corner of her eye, because she wasn't quite sure what she was doing, though she was determined not to let anyone- least of all Greg- know otherwise. She tensed involuntarily as he slid his arms around her, resting his hands on her back. He gave her a concerned look.

"If you don't want to dance with me we can go sit back down." Greg was mentally kicking himself. Dumbass, he berated himself, you probably scared her. But she shook her head.

"It's not you, I'm just...oh forget it," she muttered, not meeting Greg's eyes. He gently lifted a hand to her face and turned her face to him.

"What's wrong?" She shook her head at him again and gave up.

"Aside from I have no clue what the hell I'm doing, nothing," she replied. Greg smiled at her.

"You're a better dancer than I am," he told her.

"And yet I've never danced with a guy before," she said, then hit herself on the forehead. "I shouldn't have said that, God I'm stupid," she muttered under her breath. Greg looked at her incredulously.

"Are you serious? Someone like you, I'd have thought every guy would want to dance with you."

"You mean every guy that wouldn't want to be seen with me," she scowled. "The teens were not my best years, by a long shot." Greg looked right in her eyes.

"Those guys were idiots," he told her, "anyone to overlook you is a complete and total idiot." She looked at him with a confused look in her eyes. Greg just looked at her for a minute, reminding both of them of the day at the pool, then Greg took a deep breath and leaned forward, gently pressing his lips to hers.

---------

Catherine, dancing with Warrick a few feet away, felt him tense. She turned, and a smile grew on her face as she saw the reason why. Greg and Lia, finally actually dancing, and it seemed that one of them had kissed the other. Warrick really was a little too protective of Lia.

"Lighten up, Rick," she advised him. "They're good for eachother." Warrick sighed in response.

"I don't want to see her hurt again, Cath," he told her. "There's a lot about her that Sanders doesn't know. If he ever hurts her, I swear..."

"He'd never do anthing to her on purpose, you know that. He may be a goof, but he's a goof with a heart the size of Nevada," Catherine reasoned. "And Lia's no fool. I might not know her well yet, but I know her enough to know that she's not stupid. If she's not happy, she'll tell someone." Warrick sighed again and forced his attention backto dancing with Catherine, trying to take her advice and not worry.

--------

"Hey, Sar, look, the lab rat finally made his move," Nick whispered in Sara's ear as they turned slowly, each holding the other close.

"I'm glad. I always felt bad that he liked me so much, but I never could like him in that way. I'm glad he's found someone who likes him back." Sara said with a smile on her face.

"So she does like him?"

"Obviously. That's why she volunteered to go get drinks with me...she wanted to ask me some questions. Poor kid was so nervous. I did warn her I'm not exactly the best person to ask for advice, though."

"She looks up to you. She's intimidated less by you than by Catherine. Who better to ask?" Nick pointed out.

"Someone with a better track record than me. Until I figured you out...I was a mess," Sara pointed out bluntly.

"Not at all. You've never been a mess, Sar, everyone has problems sometimes."

"I'm glad I found you," Sara said softly as Nick kissed her.

----------------

**A/N: Fourth chapter! Yay. Well, this one's a bit different, haha. So, as always, please tell me what you think!**


	5. Turn Off The Lights

**A/N: Still hopping :) Thank you to my wonderful reviewers!**

**Sugar Pill: Oh, it seriously says blue? I must've put that and not noticed, thanks for pointing it out!**

**wdbydoglvr: I never knew Warrick lived with his grandmother and an aunt. But for the sake of this I guess he'll have to have two aunts :). And I never knew he was an outcast in school either. But this'll have to work:)**

**CatherineLouise: Glad you like :) Here's another chapter!**

**Now, disclaimer, as always, is:**

_I don't have aything to do with the production of CSI, nor do I own anything to do with CSI at all- though the first season will be MINE on DVD soon!_

**Chapter Five**

When the group decided to split up and head back home to get ready for shift, Lia was slightly apprehensive about the ride home with Warrick. She figured he'd seen them on the dance floor, since he had been slightly guarded about saying anything to either of them, and when Greg had kissed her good night, she knew her cousin had seen that. She and Greg had been flirting like crazy most of the night as well. His arm had rarely left her waist and there had hardly been any point in the night when they weren't together. Lia was expecting Twenty Questions, the Spanish Inquistion, and all that jazz from Warrick because of it. Right now though, silence reigned as Warrick and Lia got into the car and Warrick pulled out of the parking lot. After a few minutes, Lia broke the silence.

"I know it's coming, Rick, you wanna ask me about Greg."

"Am I that predictable?" Warrick asked, with a small smile.

"I believe protective is the adjective you prefer to use. But I do know it's coming, you wanna know everything from 'why Greg' to 'where's this whole thing gonna go', and I'd rather go through it now than when I'm getting ready for work," Lia pointed out.

"Fine then, answer the two questions you mentioned and I'll ask more if I need to," said Warrick.

"Alright, the answer to 'why Greg' is because...well, just because. I mean, he's been my best friend since I got here. I feel really comfortable around him, I trust him. He makes me laugh. And as to where it's going to go, I guess we'll just have to see," she finished with a shrug.

"So how long do you think it'll last?"

"No idea. I'm hoping a long time."

"Are you gonna tell him..." Warrick let the end drag off. They both knew what they were talking about.

"Eventually. The matter hasn't come up, obviously." They sat in silence again for a moment.

"Eventually. How soon is that?" Warrick asked.

"When it comes up. I don't really want to talk about it right now, Warrick...I want to stay in a good mood for the rest of the night," she told him as they pulled into the parking lot of the apartment. She opened her door and started up the stairs. "I got dibs on the shower first," she called over her shoulder with a grin. Then she saw that Warrick's face was still etched with concern and her smile grew a little sadder. "It's alright, Rick, it's ancient history, this time's way different," she said, before turning back to the stairs.

--------

Greg had far different problems than dealing with a paranoid-slash-protective cousin. While he'd been confident around Lia at the club, he was now starting to worry about what had happened. Thoughts of Lia were running through his head at the speed of light, practically, wondering if what had happened had been real, or if she'd only done it so they wouldn't have to be the only 'single' ones of the group. Deep down, he knew she wouldn't. But she'd mentioned that sugar and caffeine made her pretty hyper. He believed that it had been for real...Hell, he'd seen the same look in her eyes that night as that time in the pool, though he hadn't done anything then...but even with all that...that annoying little voice in his head wouldn't leave him alone. 'It was pity,' it told him, 'she doesn't care.' Groaning in frustration, he stepped into the shower and the almost scalding water, hoping to wash that evil little voice away.

--------

**A/N: Yes, short, I apologise, but I've been pretty busy what with a course I was taking at the library last week, and then a trip from Thursday to Sunday, plus I couldn't think of anything to add. But I'm back with another chapter in the works, and I'll have something new up sometime this week, I promise!**


	6. One Step Closer

**A/N: Once again, I apologise for the super-short chapter 5! I wasn't really able to concntrate on it as much and I have NO idea why but- here's another chapter, hopefully with more concentration points!**

_Disclaimer: CSI is not mine, though I really wish it were. I don't even own it on DVD or own any of the books, I've had to resort to the library for the DVDs._

**Chaper Six**

The faint sound of humming followed an otherwise silent- for once- Greg Sanders up to the lab. He was still thinking about last night, not being able to shove the thoughts from his mind. As he turned the corner, he became aware of the music coming from the lab. _Good,_ he thought, _she's already here._ He knew he probably had a huge grin on his face, and he didn't care. He saw her sitting at one of the microscopes, making notes on a clipboard with one hand and flipping through a reference book with the other. He snuck up behind her and slid his arms around her waist from behind and she let out a yelp and spun around. She grinned when she saw it was him.

"Hey," she said, "I was wondering when you were going to get here!" Greg laughed.

"Well, i was thinking some things over." A serious look settled on his face. "I didn't make you uncomfortable earlier, did I?"

"Greg, if I'd been uncomfortable earlier, I wouldn't be this close to you now," Lia pointed out with a grin, resting her arms on his, since they were still around her.

"Okay, just making sure." Now Greg knew for sure he had a huge grin on his face. "So, any chance you might want to go catch breakfast after shift?" He asked hopefully. She grinned back at him.

"Of course." Stretching a little bit since she was still sitting she gave Greg a quick kiss. "I better get back to this though, or Sara will kill _me_," she said jokingly.

"What is it?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be looking through reference books, now, would I?" she pointed out.

"Guess not. Let me take a look." Lia slid her chair back to give Greg access to the scope and leaned on the counte, her chin resting on her folded arms. She watched as he made a few ajustments and a grin spread slowly across his face.

"Dude, I haven't seen this stuff in ages. I _guess_ you wouldn't know what this stuff is." He turned with a grin and waved a hand in the scope's direction. "Liquid latex." His grin grew wider at the look on her face, half confused and half apprehensive. "It's used at fetish clubs, stuff like that, you paint it on and it dries," he explained.

"And you know this how?" Lia asked with a wink.

"Case a few years back," Greg replied with a wink of his own. "You're gonna have to check components to make sure, cause I could be wrong, but I doubt I am. I'm surprised someone else didn't think of it."

"Well Sara just handed me the little piece. Maybe they didn't have much and couldn't tell as fast as you," she teased.

"And speak of the Devil!" Greg said as Sara herself peered around the door. "Angel," he hastily amended as she shot him a weird look. He sent off his trademark grin- though not with the wattage now reserved for Lia. Sara smirked as she noticed that.

"Got any results on that weird black stuff yet, Lia?" she asked.

"Well, I didn't, but Greg gave it a glance and he tells me it's liquid latex, says it came up in a case a few years back."

"Oh, I remember that case. Switch killed at Lady Heather's Domain. Yup, Greg knew a lot about liquid latex then too." She flashed a grin in the direction of the two lab workers and let the door swing shut. Lia turned to Greg with a raised eyebrow.

"Knew a lot about it even then, hmm?" She asked playfully.

"Research," Greg said somewhat smugly.

"As long as it wasn't first-hand research," Lia threw back with a grin, before replacing the slide on the microscope with the next sample from Sara.

--------

A few minutes after shift was over, Lia poked her head into th locker room looking for Warrick. She spotted him and called over,

"Hey Rick, me and Greg are heading out for breakfast, catch ya later!" And she was gone before he really had a chance to respond. He rolled his eyes. Turning back to the task of finding a shirt that didn't have gravel residue on it, he couldn't help but worry about Lia. Given what had happened with Luke... He shook his head to clear it. _Ancient past, Brown, she said so herself._

--------

Greg and Lia made their way down to the parking lot.

"So, what's a switch? I think I'm used to the idea of painting rubber on yourself...sort of."

"Well Lady Heather's Domain was a fetish club. The girls who worked there were either dominatrixes, who dominated their clients, or submissives, who were submissive to their clients."

"So a switch is just that- someone who switched?"

"Yup."

"What'd they use?"

"For what?"

"They've gotta dominate using something."

"Oh. I don't know exactly. My guess is, whips, that kind of thing. The girl who was killed, she was chained up with a mask over her head, she could only breath through straws, that's how she died, the dominator didn't let her breath. The was a disturbing case. I never looked at liquid latex the same way again," he teased her. "Anyway, car a-hoy." Greg unlocked the car and gallantly opened the door for Lia before getting in on his side.

"So where are we going?" Lia asked.

"Well, there's a choice of two places. One is a little breakfast-oriented place near my apartment. They make probably the second-best breakfast I've had in Vegas, and they're part of the reason I've got my apartment. Friends of my mom's cousin," Greg said as he pulled out of his parking spot and headed for the exit.

"And the other place?" Lia asked.

"Well, that would be the place that makes the best breakfast in Vegas," Greg explained, "at least in my opinion. Once again, near my house, and I stop there almost every day. It's owned, operated and visited solely by a Mr. Greg Sanders and rarely has any other patrons," he finished with a grin. Lia laughed.

"Well, I don't know, but that second one- the chef sounds interesting," she teased.

"Yeah, he is," Greg answered. "And can't forget, he's seen your apartment and had his reputation damaged by your cooking, time to save it," he teased back.

"What, your reputation or your cooking?" The playful banter kept on over the music of the CD Greg slipped in the player at an intersection, and a few minutes later found them both singing along. Half an hour later found them making their way into the apartment building. As they made their way up the stairs to Greg's floor and stopped in front of his door, a door down the hall cracked open.

"Well if it isn't little Greggo!" Came the voice of a woman from the crack. He glanced over and a smile grew on his face.

"Hey, Emma!" He exclaimed, walking over for a hug. He motioned Lia to come over. "Lia, this is my neighbor Emma Wood. Em, this is my girlfriend, Lia Fox." Emma grinned at Lia. She looked like a very nice lady, mid-40s, with brown hair and bright blue eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Lia. Glad to know Greggo finally made his move on you, you know, he wouldn't stop talking about you since you moved here." She winked. "Now I'm sure you're both going to be hungry so I won't keep you." She waved goodbye and closed the door. Lia glanced over at Greg, who was blushing furiously.

"Wouldn't stop talking about me, hmm?" She teased. Greg gave her an embarassed grin and finally unlocked the door.

"Well, I came home the day I met you and she took one look at me and said 'Who is she' and wouldnt stop questioning me. She's like the big sister I don't have in Vegas. And she likes you, I can tell already. She forms opinions really fast," he explained. Lia laughed.

"She seems really nice. I can't believe you wasted time talking about me though," she commented, following Greg through to his kitchen.

"Definetely not a waste of time. Well, actually, it kinda was, 'cause I could've asked you out before now if I hadn't been busy being scared out of my mind." He smiled at her then pulled the fridge open. "So, Lady Lia, what would you care to dine upon this fine morning?" He joked in a faux-British accent. She giggled.

"Doesn't matter. Your house and you're the master chef, let's see what you can do."

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**A/N: Well, this one's a bit longer. Next one should have a bit of tie-in stuff for hints that've been in previous chapters.**

**saraandgreg4ever: Wow, risking getting grounded? I'm flattered :D Glad you like the story!**

**CatherineLouise: I think you've reviewed for what, almost every chapter so far:) Wow. Here's another chapter. Still not as long as I would like. But I can't stay on one scene for too long or I get writer's block so we'll see where the next chapter goes!**


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